A bus trip led us to a new friendship with the Swedish couple, Johan and Anna. We got off in Hue at a hotel. Our group pondered whether we should get our bags off the bus before checking out the hotels. The hotel owner told us that we could get them off later. The 5 of us checked out the rooms, bargained our price and went to get our bags off of the bus that was no longer there....Shit. So in the midst of the panic of our lost bags (on their way Hanoi), I started finding the whole thing to be quite hilarious. Looking back, I don't think my laughing helped the situation but the situation sorted itself out quite quickly. Our new best friend, the hotel owner, made a call and took us on a trip around the corner. It turns out that the buses were changing and thankfully our luggage hadn't left yet. Whoa, that was a close one. In a single file, we marched back to the hotel with our bags intact and on our back (as they should be!!)

Our friendship blossomed into dinner and drinks at the local pub that was three hotels away from our hotel

. It was well within stumbling distance. One drink led to another. The night escalated with stories about travelling. As the first person finished, we had another round ordered. The football match between Argentina and England came on. It was a lost cause from that point. The boys were mia. In the meantime, Anna was getting hit on by a ridiculously drunk Canadian that didn't believe her boyfriend was 4 feet away from her. Half time came, a voice in my head said to go home and Rob said to stay. What a mistake that was!!! More beers later, the second half of the football match and Anna getting her butt pinched led us to 2am. It also led to paying the bill that added up to 40 beers amongst the 5 of us. Not bad for a nights work. Add in dinner's drink and we totaled 45 beers. The only hitch of the whole thing was that Chris, Rob and I had a tour that started at 6am. Ahh that was going to be a rough start, but it was worth it.